Electrostatic photographic apparatus of the type mentioned commonly have a structure in which a potential is applied to an outer periphery of a photosensitive member in the form of a drum by means of a charger and then a thus charged layer of the photosensitive member is scanned by a beam of light in response to data of a transfer image to form an electrostatic latent image, whereafter the electrostatic latent image thus formed is transferred to paper wrapped around the photosensitive member by a transfer charger. Meanwhile, a electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive member must necessarily be developed before it is transferred to paper, and, to this end, a developing device is provided. The developing device includes a developer for adhering toner to an outer periphery of the photosensitive member having an electrostatic latent image formed thereon to convert the electrostatic latent image into a visible image, and a cleaning mechanism for removing remaining toner from the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum after the electrostatic latent image has been transferred to the paper. The developer and the cleaning mechanism both constituting the developing device are assembled individually and independently. The photosensitive member is also assembled independently.
Drawbacks of such conventional electrostatic photographic apparatus as described above will now be described. A photosensitive member, a cleaning mechanism and a developer are articles of consumption and are replaced comparatively frequently. However, since the photosensitive member, the developer and the cleaning mechanism are individually assembled independently, such replacement requires disassembling of each of them. Accordingly, it is a drawback that many other mounted parts may get in the way of a replacing operation of such an article of consumption, resulting in low operability in maintenance.
Meanwhile, the conventional electrostatic photographic apparatus have a structure wherein a charger, a transfer charger, a developing device and some other components are disposed closely to each other around a photosensitive member. Accordingly, it is a drawback that it is difficult to release jamming of paper which is guided between the photosensitive member and such components.